State of Illinois Archives: on Education

For 20 years, I've worked on improving education in Illinois. I've helped lead many education organizations such as the New Schools for Chicago, The Noble Network of Charter Schools, ACT Charter School, & the Chicago Public Education Fund.

Our efforts
work. In the public charter schools, the first-year students start grade levels behind, but by the time they graduate high school, most students are going to college.

I know we can improve education in Illinois because I've seen it happen. To do that,
we can:

Whether traditional, charter, or private, Illinois' children need access to more quality choices in education. We need to let educators have the autonomy to run their own schools and let families choose schools that best fit their children's
needs.

Education spending must be re-prioritized so our tax dollars go to the front lines of the education battlefield, and that's the classroom. Today we spend far too much money on administration and bureaucracy.

Napoleon Harris:
Supplemental state aid to low-income school districts

Vote to pass a bill that amends the formula for school funding. Highlights:

Requires the computation for school funding to be based on a
school district's "available local resources" which is a combination of the local revenue" from Local property taxes and Corporate Personal Property Replacement Taxes.

Appropriates supplemental state aid to school districts that have a certain concentration level of children from low-income households

Requires the state to provide a school district with supplemental funding if the school district's funding is decreased by more than $1,000 per pupil due to the provisions of this bill.

Jim Oberweis:
Voted NO on sex education including contraception

OnTheIssues Synopsis: Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades 6 through 12 shall include instruction
on both abstinence and contraception for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.

No pupil shall be required to participate in any sex education class if a parent or guardian submits a written objection.

Source: 2013 Illinois state legislative voting records
May 22, 2013

Pat Quinn:
Consolidate from 868 school districts to save $100M

Illinois currently has 868 school districts, and our fiscal reality demands consolidation. I am proposing the formation of a commission that will review the number of school districts in our state.

Consolidation lowers administrative overhead, improves
efficiency and will save taxpayers $100 million. I am also proposing eliminating state funding for the salaries & offices for regional school superintendents. The $13 million annual savings will be spent in the classroom, rather than on administration.

We worked hard on getting a law passed that can make a difference for years to come, called "Race to the Top," accountable education, with up to half a billion dollars in federal money, to make sure our education in our state at the elementary and
secondary level is second to none.

I think it's up to 340 schools districts, have already signed on to participate in this program. Education is the key to economic empowerment. It's the best way for equal opportunity for the most people in a democracy

Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address
Jan 13, 2010

Alexi Giannoulias:
Invest in early childhood education

Invest in the proven success of early childhood education

Alexi's plan begins before children enter kindergarten with increased investment in Head Start, Early Head Start, and other early childhood education programs.

We save up to $17 in the
future for every dollar we invest in our children under age 5, because they are likely to earn more and less likely to drop out of school, be incarcerated, or seek welfare.

Alan Keyes:
Parents, not schools, should be responsible for sex ed

KEYES: You voted that sex education should begin in kindergarten but it would be ďage appropriate.Ē Do you believe that in 2nd grade we should be teaching from books like Heather Has Two Mommies.

OBAMA: We have an existing law that mandates sex
education in the schools and we want to make sure that itís medically accurate & age appropriate. [Sex education] is in the law so schoolchildren can exercise some kind of protection against abuse.

KEYES: I think its perfectly appropriate for parents t
talk to their children at these tender young ages in a way that reflects their faith and their values, as understood according to their moral identity and religious culture. And I think its dangerous to be touching these subjects at such tender ages in a
school environment rather than leaving it to the parents. I believe in empowering parents with the right to choose the environment where their children will be educated rather than usurping their role with a bureaucratically dominated education system.

Barack Obama:
Sex education needed to help children discuss molestation

KEYES: [to Obama]: You voted that sex education should begin in kindergarten but it would be ďage appropriate sex education.Ē But you opposed putting internet filters in schools. It makes me wonder what exactly you think is age appropriate. Do you believ
that in the 2nd grade we should be teaching from books like Heather Has Two Mommies.

OBAMA: Actually, that wasnít what I had in mind. We have an existing law that mandates sex education in the schools and we want to make sure that itís medically
accurate and age appropriate. I have a 3 year old daughter and a six year old daughter and one of the things I talk about with my wife is the possibility of someone touching them inappropriately. And thatís why [sex education] is in the law. So they can
exercise some kind of protection against abuse. As for filters, I have voted for them. In the school setting, there was information schoolchildren could not access such as information about breast cancer, which is why there was a broad opposition.

Barack Obama:
Sponsored legislations that recruit and reward good teachers

Obama co-sponsored legislation to create a National Teaching Academy of Chicago that recruits, prepares and develops quality teachers for high-need urban school districts. He co-sponsored legislation that created the Future Teacher Corps Scholarships to
provide financial aid for undergraduate & graduate students studying to become teachers. He was chief sponsor of a bill creating the Certified Teacher Retention Bonus Program that provides grants to reward high quality teachers in low performing schools.

Barack Obama:
Address the growing achievement gap between students

Our public education system is the key to opportunity for millions of children and families. It needs to be the best in the world.
Of particular concern is the growing achievement gap between middle and low-income students, which has continued to expand despite some overall national achievement gains.

Barack Obama:
Will add 25,000 teachers in high-need areas

Obama will fight for full funding for Head Start and expanded pre-school, so every child starts school ready to learn. He has proposed a national network of teaching academies to add 25,000 new teachers to high-need urban and rural schools.
And, he will work to send deserving students to college through loan programs that help middle-class families instead of banks.